Potomac Pediatrics and The Diener School are partnering to keep families, staff, and students safe during this COVID-19 pandemic. Each individual getting tested will need to sign their own consent form, and create their own lab portal account.
Location: 11701 Danville Dr, North Bethesda, MD 20852
Safety Precautions
- Masks are REQUIRED for everyone 2 years and older as mandated by the State and Maryland Department of Health.
- We ask that all families maintain a safe distance of 6ft from other families.
Dates:
Effective January 21, 2021, Potomac Pediatrics will be offering routine biweekly testing to students during school hours as coordinated by The Diener School.
Students who are not registered with Potomac Pediatrics or the lab will need to sign up for a community testing clinic at our office.
What to expect:
- This is the PCR test and we do an anterior nasal swab which is less invasive than a nasopharyngeal swab. The sensitivity of the PerkinElmer pcr kit is still very high and actually rated the highest among the FDA approved EUA pcr kits https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/sars-cov-2-reference-panel-comparative-data.
Registration
- Click Here to register for your Capital Diagnostics lab portal account (we recommend using Chrome) Site code: DIENER. Please note, all questions in the portal are required by the Maryland Department of Health for reporting purposes. If you’ve previously registered for past testing clinics with Capital Diagnostics under The Diener School site code, you do not need to register again.
- Click Here if this is the first time you are being tested with Potomac Pediatrics/ Capital Diagnostics to complete the initial registration process.
Reporting Results
Results are typically returned within 24-48 hours. If your results are negative, you will receive an automated email notification once the results are posted to your portal account.
Positive results will first receive a phone call from Capital Diagnostics regarding their results and then they will be promptly posted to your portal. In addition, if you’re positive, you should expect to also receive a phone call from someone at the Maryland Department of Health for contract tracing purposes. All results from samples collected at The Diener School whether the tested individual is a student, faculty, or family member will be sent to the school.
Insurance Billing
- Potomac Pediatrics will be billing for a nurse visit (CPT: 99211 with Dx: Z03.818) for the sample collection.
- Capital Diagnostic Laboratories will be billing each student’s insurance for the COVID-19 PCR test.
Financial Disclaimer: Most health insurance plans are covering all COVID-19 related visits and testing at 100% with no patient responsibility. However, out of state and/or self-funded employer plans may have some patient responsibility that will show up on your Explanation of Benefits (EOB). This is not a bill. Your EOB just explains how your claim has processed and they will send this information to Potomac Pediatrics. We will not be assigning any patient responsibility for COVID testing performed at The Diener School.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I’m already a patient at Potomac Pediatrics?
- We encourage existing patients to utilize these special testing dates for ease of reporting results back to the school.
What if I don’t have insurance?
- In order for the lab to submit your information to get the CARES act to cover the cost of your test, you will need to provide your social security number when registering in the portal. Please note, this is a mandatory requirement in order for Potomac Pediatrics and Capital Diagnostics to get reimbursed under the CARES Act.
Why do I have to enter my information in more than one place?
- Potomac Pediatrics and Capital Diagnostics are two separate companies. While we are collaborating and sharing information, to offer testing to such a large volume of people we need you to participate in providing this information. Our staff is still reconciling and verifying all information entered to ensure a smooth testing process. If we had to enter every patient’s information multiple times it would limit our ability to offer testing clinics and get students back in school.
What is Potomac Pediatrics experience with COVID-19 testing?
- Potomac Pediatrics partners with Labcorp and Capital Diagnostics lab to process COVID-19 PCR testing. Our team of nurses is actively collecting samples on approximately 150 patients per day for our current patients. In a standard day, we are swabbing for and running in-house Rapid Antigen testing as well as collecting samples for PCR testing. Most patients in our office opt to have both test run and therefore our nurses are doing approximately 300 swabs per day!
My child doesn’t go to Potomac Pediatrics and I don’t want to switch pediatricians.
- Great news, you don’t have to! Our partnership with The Diener School is strictly for COVID-19 testing. There is no expectation that your family will become a patient at Potomac Pediatrics. We value your established relationship with your current pediatrician and believe in continuity of care. Just think of us as a testing clinic that is available on site at the school to help keep students, families, faculty and staff safe during these unprecedented times.